Photo Credit: Megan Joyner[/caption]The Lady Panther soccer team had a busy few weeks as their conference games officially started. The varsity women’s soccer team played Northern Vance on Thursday, March 20, at 6:00 pm. The Panthers came out with a 6-0 victory on their home turf. The JV and varsity Panthers then traveled to Tiger territory on Friday, March 21, to play Chapel Hill High School. This was a tough loss for both OHS teams. Monday, March 25, the Panther team fought hard against the Cardinal Gibbons’ Crusaders. Although both OHS teams suffered a heavy loss, they did so by putting up a fierce battle.
Northern Vance was the first conference team that the Lady Panthers played in their season, and they started it out right with a clean score. They went up early in the first half, scoring a couple quick goals. Hannah Mignosa, senior, scored the first goal within 10 minutes of the game starting. Before the half concluded, the Panthers were up 4-0. As the whistle blew and the second half kicked off, the Panthers started off strong, possessing the ball. As the half continued, the Panthers scored three more goals, ending the game with a 6-0 win. Ashley Badstein, in goal for the Panthers, finished the game with a shutout.
The following day, the Panthers traveled to Chapel Hill to play the Tigers. The JV team worked hard but came out with a rough defeat, 9-0. The Tigers went up early taking the lead for the remainder of the game. The Varsity Panthers, despite their tenacity, also suffered a tough loss, 9-0. However, both teams played hard and are now preparing for payback at their next meeting.
The following Monday, March 24, the JV and varsity teams played Cardinal Gibbons at home. JV kicked off first at 5:00 pm. The Lady Panthers came away with a loss 7-0, but not without putting up a fight. Despite the score, the Crusaders had a difficult time getting past Mileah Shriner in goal for the Panthers. She said, “I think we did better than we did against Chapel Hill because we fought hard, but we still have some room to improve.” At 6:45 pm the varsity team played and held their own for most of the first half. The final score, 8-0 in favor of the Crusaders, did not reflect the effort of the Panthers. They put up a grand fight that had each team clawing for the ball throughout the game. Rowan Janes, a sophomore and center defender, held up the Panther back line, which successfully pulled Cardinal Gibbons offsides multiple times throughout the game. The game was tight up until the very end of the game, but the Panthers held on.
Although the Panthers had a difficult week, they look forward to a rematch, and the rest of their conference games.
Photo Credit: Jonah Neville.[/caption]After a very successful season of basketball, Coach Greg Motley has been chosen as the 3A Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year. He started coaching in 1995 and this is one of many playoff seasons he has led the Panthers to. When asked how he felt about winning Coach of the Year, he responded by saying that it was a testament to the kids’ success and how well they played throughout the entire season. With high expectations every year in a tough conference, the Panthers had one of their best seasons, going 26-6 for the year. Expectations for next year will be the same, and although the Panthers will be losing three seniors, they will bring back a good, strong core of guys to compete with next year. With the past couple of years being losing seasons, this was a great bounce-back year for Coach Motley and the basketball team.
When asked about how this year was different than the past few years, Coach Motley said, “We had the same preparation as every year, but this year the team chemistry was better, and we had some guys step up into bigger roles that we didn’t expect them to.” He also said that the fans this year “were very big and very loud, and definitely helped the team pull through some games when they were behind or needed a boost.” It’s no secret that Coach Motley has had much success as the Panthers’ head coach, so when asked who he models his coaching after, he said that it is a combination of coaches he has listened to at college clinics, such as Duke and North Carolina. He also credits Coach Shriner for showing him how a coach should treat the kids the right way. The Panthers had a great season and Coach Motley hopes to continue this year’s success into many more years.